If this Northern Stevedoring Service process isn’t being taught at Harvard Business School then it needs to be.
In fact the ‘help your client be a client’ tactic should be taught first up under ‘business basics.’
The recent case started with a steel products manufacturer and a faulty D6H Caterpillar bulldozer sent as part of a shipment to Port of Townsville explains Maintenance Manager Jarrod Sawyer.
This vessel had taken on scrap metal in Brisbane and was steaming north for another consignment at the Port of Townsville.
The dozer was there to ensure they could get as much in as possible to take to China for recycling.
Jarrod explains he got the call for help.
“I received a phone call from the client on Friday afternoon informing me that the bulldozer was headed to Townsville on a vessel and required further repairs prior to being utilised and that it was needed urgently,” he said.
“Once the vessel arrived early on Monday morning with the bulldozer, we received the parts from the client at the same time and completed the repairs on it straight away, which allowed them to start utilizing it, which they hadn’t been able to for the last week.
“It was used for a couple of hours before, due to other previous damage , it broke down again. We ordered parts in overnight and repaired it for them again the following morning, and they were then able to utilize it for the rest of the vessel.
“NSS’ role is to move our customers product as efficiently as possible. When they asked for assistance to keep their machinery going to do that, we pulled out all stops to make sure we did.”
This was one of around twenty scrap steel shipments serviced by NSS in either Townsville, Mackay, Cairns, Weipa and Gladstone each year.
NSS has an extensive maintenance facility to keep their own and their customers’ equipment including cranes, Reach-stackers, forklifts and other fixed and mobile assets in good working order.
The client was much relieved Jarrod said.
“I received an email from the client thanking us for our performance, as the bulldozer was able to work for so long that our Operations team were able create room by pushing the steel in the hatches to allow for 1300 tonne of extra product.”
NSS was able to fit around 6000t of scrap steel in the end as a result of the space created in the five holds of the MV Deneb Harmony.
